Goodnight, Texas

 One Liner: Cross-country troubadours of folky Americana

Wikipedia Genre: Americana

Home: San Francisco and Chapel Hill

Poster Position: Level 5 (28)
Weekend Two Only.  

Saturday.

Thoughts:  Weird that this is on the very bottom line of the whole poster, and I like it more than a lot of the stuff above it.  This is a folk rock band named after the town of Goodnight, Texas, which is apparently the geographic midpoint between the members who write their songs - San Francisco and Chapel Hill.  They've even played in Goodnight several times, a town of all of 18 freaking people.  It is up in the panhandle, and named after the famous pioneer Charles Goodnight, who is the real life person that apparently inspired Woodrow F. Call.

Their hit song was used elsewhere to gain its notoriety - "The Railroad" was used in a Coors Banquet commercial (with a voiceover by Sam Elliott).  Which took me down a rabbit hole - multiple commercials for Coors on YouTube feature the gravelly tones of Mr. Elliott.  Weird. And then it was also used in the opening scenes of that terrible Tiger King show that everyone became fascinated with because of the damn COVID.  14.8 million streams.

Literally sounds like something that could have been made in the 1800's.  Feels like C3 missed a spot by not having these guys on the same day as the Mumfords.  They could party together all day.  That song is from their 2012 album A Long Life About Living, which was their debut.  "Jesse Got Trapped in a Coal Mine" is a good tune too.

One of the singers, Avi Vinocur has appeared multiple times with Metallica during concerts and on the Howard Stern show, which is a really weird thing.  2018's Conductor has a Nickel Creek vibe to it.  "Borrowed Time" on 2022's How Long Will It Take Them to Die has a jam band vibe going on in there.  The most recent single kind of makes me think of a quiet Dawes.  They have a lot of great song names - "A Bank Robber's Nursery Rhyme," "Jane, Come Down From Your Room," or "I'm Going to Work on Maggie's Farm Forever."  The top song from their most recent album, "Hypothermic" has 2.1 million streams and a brooding storyline.

Now, this is another one of those bands that really feel like they are better suited for the Cactus Club rather than a massive stage in the heat of the day, but whatever, I can also see them being fun when they kick in the jams.  I'd go check it out.

Sincere Engineer

One Liner: Pop punk thrashings from an unsafe bike rider

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - punk, pop punk

Home: Chicago

Poster Position: Level 4 (21) 
Weekend Two Only.
Saturday.

Thoughts:  Spotify is rude, in that after I had heard this band's entire catalog, it shifted me straight to a Beth's song, which got me excited that this band covered the Beths, which then turned in to disappointment.  I love the Beths and don't understand why they aren't coming to ACL for me.

That is neither here nor there.  This is a lady named Deanna Belos (with some collaborators fleshing out the band) from Chicago who blasts some intense pop punk.  I dig the rhyming band name, even though it feels like the name for some twee indie thing and not a punk band.  Instead, this feels like the epic sort of sneering lyrics that people would yell along to in a sweaty pit in a small club.  According to one article, she got her start as a solo artist playing acoustic, and then some guys from other bands heard her and decided they needed to inject punk into her stuff with some full-band treatment.

She's got 2 albums - 2017's Rhombithian, 2021's Bless My Psyche - and a handful of singles (and repeats of the same songs, after spinning the whole catalog, it feels like I've heard some of these songs ten times).  Her top song is from that new album, "Trust Me" with just over 2 million streams.

She looks like a child riding that bike!  Good fun in the tune.  If you are in to that sort of - wait, you're riding the bike with a pizza in your hands and no helmet!  I'm calling your mother! - sorry, if you are in to that sort of screaming punk rock, then this will scratch your itch.  My wife would hate it.  I think it is fun.  

Although I'd also say that if you just spin through the songs, she can be very tuneful; in her vocals - it is not always just her screaming.  Sometimes she sings really nicely.  Second most streamed is from the debut disc - "Overbite" - with 1.9 million streams.

Even if you don't dig the screaming, the tune is prime pogo-party stuff.  "I still feel just about as dumb as I used to!" is a great yell-along line, as well.  This stuff is a good time.  Personally, feels like a band that would be more enjoyable in a small sweaty club than a dusty field, but if I happened to be there in the early day when they take the stage, I'd check it out.

Penny & Sparrow

One Liner: Duo making indie-folk-rock magic after meeting at UT

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie rock, folk rock, gentle sounds

Home: Austin and Alabama

Poster Position: Level 3 (14)  (like three days in, they already changed the dang poster, dangit)
Weekend Two Only.  

Sunday.

Thoughts:  There was a time a few years ago when it felt like every new band was Thing & Thing.  Shovels & Rope.  Penny & Sparrow.  She & Him.  Iron & Wine.  Mumford & Sons.  I know there are others, I actually thought this was a different band when I pulled it up that was a mother and daughter.  There it is - Cliffs & Caves.  Strangely, there is no Wikipedia entry for this band.  They feel big enough to be online.  Maybe I'm thinking of a different band.  Also, strangely, Penny Sparrow was a white woman in South Africa who compared "littering black beachgoers to monkeys," and was sentenced to two years in prison!  Holy shit!  I mean, those words are definitely rude and offensive and ugly, but prison time!  South Africa does not mess around!

This is not a racist African lady.  This is a pair of dudes making soft, folky indie tunes who met in Austin while attending UT.  They started out playing cover songs at local bars, calling themselves random names like Dallas Cowboys or Utah Jazz.  They came up with their name because one venue said they needed a real name, so they cribbed it from a friend who wrote under that pen name.  That was back in 2013, and they've released albums steadily even since.  Strangely, the guitarist lives in Austin but the singer lives in Alabama.  Eight-ish albums, and some live discs and EPs, over that time, quite a bit of production.

The most streamed tune, by quite a bit, comes from 2019's Finch.  "Eloise" clocks in with 34.8 million streams.

The instruments don't even kick in for like a minute.  Always curious why some people shape their mustaches the way they do.  Like, why does his go down and cover the corners of his mouth.  Grosses me out a little.  But a really pretty song - Bon Iver or Lord Huron feels to me - and amazing harmonies.  Also, I would be terrified about that bird eating my ear off.  That album also boasts their second-most streamed, "Don't Wanna Be Without Ya," with 20.3 million.  But I'm going to give you another that shows up on their newest album, 2022's Olly Olly.  "Need You" has 10.2 million streams.

Sweet song.  Makes me think of a Jason Isbell lyric with the storytelling part.  But the chorus is cute and full of SAT words.

Yeah, these guys are really good.  This is nice music.  Not so sure about a festival set, feels like music to lounge to late at night or on the back porch during a rainstorm or something.  But sure, stamp of approval!

Shaed

One Liner: That one Apple commercial song, no not that one, yeah, that one.

Wikipedia Genre: electropop, indie pop

Home: Washington, D.C.

Poster Position: Level 3 (19)
Weekend One Only.  

Saturday.

Thoughts:  In my predictions post for 2019, I included this as one of my guesses, because they had a top ten song on Shazam.  I used to try to guess ACL artists off of Shazam numbers.  it was a simpler time, okay!  TikTok was still called musically!  Leave me alone!  Anyway, here is what I said then: 

• SHAED.  Normally, I'd say what the hell is this and no, but they are playing Lolla, so I bet they are coming to Austin as well.  What if this is one of the bands that supports my theory from last year that the radio stations get notice of the lineup and start playing the artists early to hype people up about the poster?  Makes sense, people have never heard this, but Austin radio is just starting to pimp it, so they are using Shazam to find the artist, but this song isn't in the top ten nationally because only Austin radio stations are pimping it.  I'VE SOLVED THE ALGORITHM!!! Anyway, I'll go with yes.

I was WRONG.  This thing did not show up.  Now, because I am old and lame, I had to look up how to pronounce their band name.  According to this sorta terrifying video, it is pronounced like you said "shade" with a mouthful of magnetic Rs in your craw.  But this is that band that has the song they used in the Apple macbook TV commercial, right?  Yes, indeed.  212.1 million streams.

Kinda cool, minimalist track before the action kicks in.  Lotta whistles!  And, in case you care:

How freaking cool, to be an otherwise unknown band with no streams, to go to being in a simple little commercial like that and becoming the kind of band that plays Lolla and ACL.  Their top three songs on Spotify are all three this song.  the regular version, one with a ZAYN, and then one with a Jauz.  Those tracks, collectively, have like 800 million streams!  And then their next most streamed tune has just over 5 million.  What a let-down.  

And I also get that let-down, because this really isn't my bag.  It is fine!  Nothing offensive or awful here!  But just kind of generic EDM-ish music with the lady singing over the top.  If it weren't for the fact that every other song is another version of "Trampoline," I would not have noticed this music all day.

The band is made up of two brothers who started their first band in middle school, a rock band called Upslide.  It was good enough that they actually got a management company, and by high school had formed another band called Trust Fall and started touring the country.  They met the lead singer at a club in DC and the three of them started another band called Walking Sticks, which later changed its name to Shaed.  Since then, they blew up with that ad campaign song, and the singer married one of the brothers.  Good story!  Their second-most streamed song is from 2021's High Dive, called "No Other Way."

Starts to rip off Fleetwood Mac for a hot second, and then just turns into electropop.  Again, it's fine.  If you love electropop, then this is your jam!  

Doubt I'd watch it.

The Teskey Brothers

One Liner: Complete incongruity between their look and sound channeling Otis Redding-style soul

Wikipedia Genre: Blues rock, soul, gospel, Aussie rock

Home: Melbourne

Poster Position: Level 3 (10) 
Both Weekends.
Friday.  

Thoughts:  Huh.  Look at their Spotify picture and tell me what these dudes are about to play?

Bro country?  Sure.  Soft folky stuff?  Yeah, okay.  Southern-fried rock and roll?  Right on.  Any of those sound realistic.  And then the first song kicks in and I'm somehow listening to, like, Sam Cooke or Otis Redding or something.  And then you read about them a little bit, and they're freaking from Australia!  What is happening!?!?!

They are at least legitimately brothers, so its not like everything here is a lie.  Josh handles vocals and rhythm guitar, while Sam plays lead guitar.  They formed with some other guys on bass and drums, and have steadily gotten bigger back home.  Won several ARIA music awards.  WIkipedia says they play in the style of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.  Fascinating.  Two mid-30's dudes out here biting the style of 60 years ago.

Wait, I've heard one of these songs before.  Sounds like some classic they are covering, but this is apparently theirs.  I have definitely heard this somewhere before.  From their second album, Run Home Slow, this is "So Caught Up" with 35.4 million streams.

So good!  This stuff is super enjoyable!  I still can't believe these are 30-something Aussies cranking that music out!  Some of these songs also remind me of some more recent artists who I can't recall - someone who they play on the KUTX/Sun Radio type stations that has this sort of soulful wailing.  That one above was the second most streamed tune.  Their top streamer is from their debut album, 2018's Half Mile Harvest.  "Pain and Misery," with 38.2 million streams.

Pre-long hair bro-ness in that video.  But, again, how strange to hear those sounds coming out of the mouths and fingers of some Aussie white boys?  Lovely song.  I've just let this band roll for two days of work, and it is really pleasant stuff to just let it roll over me.  I get the feeling that a live show of this would knock your socks off.

Bass Drum of Death

One Liner: Noisy garage punk goodness

Wikipedia Genre: garage rock, garage punk, noise rock, punk rock

Home: Brooklyn (by way of Oxford, Mississippi)

Poster Position: Level 4 (19)
Weekend One Only.  

Friday.

Thoughts:  Some of this sounds very much like White Reaper.  Do they share the same singer?  Apparently not!  This band is fronted by John Barrett, who originally formed the band as a one-man band in 2008.  The first two albums are him, alone, doing all of the bits.  Formed in Oxford, MS, they later moved to NYC to get plugged in to a better scene.  It is a great band name.  Even though it would be even more great if they actually had a monster drum that would blow your speakers once every track.

Their tunes have been featured in all sorts of things - movies like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Fist Fight, video games like MLB 2K12 or Grand Theft Auto V, commercials for H&M and Nascar, TV shows like Vampire Diaries and Altered Carbon.

Five real albums and six EPs, although not all of that is available on Spotify.  Their biggest track is from 2013's eponymous album, called "Crawling After You."  11.6 million streams.

I like that insistent bass line underneath there.  This is absolutely my kind of jam.  Their second-most streamed is from the debut album Gb City, from 2011.  "Get Found" with 5.8 million streams.

Another raw banger.  I'm comparing this more and more to the White Reaper sound, which is likely unfair since this came out years before I heard of White Reaper, so its probably those dudes who are ripping off the sound!  But if you listen to both bands, the singing style is undeniably similar.  And because I really like the Reaper, this is freaking fun too!  2014's Rip This also has a Hives sound to it, like that rad album that came out around 2004 or so.

I kind of figured that Barrett had ended up in Oxford for college or something, but no, he is actually a native of Oxford, Mississippi.  He left for New York to release several of his albums, but then returned to Oxford during the pandemic to reset

Finally, the new album has been out a few months, Say I Won't, and so the stream counts on these are pretty low so far.  This is apparently the first album where he really treated the whole thing like a band and allowed collaborators to help out.  Patrick Carney of the Black Keys helped out with production.  Top track is "Say Your Prayers" with 314k.

That poor kid.  I hope he burns that church down.  Ohnoes!  Get up, kid!  Listen to 30 Seconds to Mars and it will wake you up!  Good track.  Apparently, Mike Kerr from Royal Blood collaborated on that track as well.  Cool.

I like this stuff a lot.  Fun, loud, raw - sounds like a good time!

Odesza (2023)

One Liner: Chillwave electronic tunes.
Wikipedia Genre: Indietronica,  electropop, chillwave,  future bass, trap (God, I forgot how much I love reading these music genres listed on Wikipedia). 
Home: Seattle

Poster Position: 1
Both Weekends.

Sunday.

Thoughts:  Another one that was here previously!  Hooray for my typing fingers!  Last here in 2018.  They're from Seattle?  I thought for sure these guys were from the oil fields of Odessa.  Wikipedia says that the group is made up of two dudes, "Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, known individually as Catacombkid and BeachesBeaches."  WTF, man.  Their real names are already money Batman character names, but what the hell is up with going by "BeachesBeaches"?  The story behind their names: 

• Odessa was the name of a ship that one guy's uncle sailed on until it sunk, and because that name was already in use by another band, they went with the odd spelling.
• Catacombkid is an homage to an Aesop Rock song called "Catacomb Kids."
• The last one though... "the story behind Knight's nickname, he says, "Honestly I was high in my bedroom making music one day…""  THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE NAME, MAN.

This is chill - the kind of electronic music that I (music knower who knows zero about electronic music) feel like has gained steam after the bro-forward aggressive electro of guys like Skrillex.  Its not quite so beachy as Zedd (previous ACL EDM guy), but it has kind of a beachy/fun/light feel in a lot of the songs.  Sometimes reminds me of old Moby songs.  The top song is "Sun Models (feat. Madelyn Grant)."  195 million streams.

I find it entertaining that this song "features" someone, when the featured feature singing is a loopy, tuned-up, sampled version of singing, not someone actually singing a song over the beat.  Sounds like the kind of song you hear when trying not to die of cologne overload in an Abercrombie store.  Does A&F even exist anymore?  (apparently so, but you couldn't pay me to go to one).

That tune is off of 2014's In Return.  That album also has their second-most streamed tune, "Say My Name."  The band also has a 2012 album (Summer's Gone), a 2017 album (A Moment Apart), a 2020 album (BRONSON), and a 2022 album (The Last Goodbye).  If I'm being honest (and I try!) I can't tell any difference between the albums.  Maybe a true chillwave-head would know all about how their sound has morphed over time through the maturation and evolution as beatmaker guys, but each one sounds like the same chilled out electronic to me (almost always with a lady singer).  Here is the top track from that 2012 album, "How Did I Get Here," with 77 million streams.

You know, not bad.  I feel like this is the wrong word, but it feels kind of sleepy.  Like, when I'm thinking about an electro band for ACL, I'm thinking of Chainsmokers or Griz or Bassnectar or one of those super hyped-up party bands.  This one feels like it will be a good groove, but less of a jam.

Just because I ran down this odd rabbithole today on YouTube of more Odesza videos, I thought I'd show you this one, titled "ODESZA with the greatest opening to a concert, ever."  I think that is a little bold - I mean, has this guy seen the Black Crowes doing "No Speak No Slave" to open a show at the Austin Coliseum?  Or Metallica opening with Ennio Morricone?  Exactly.  You don't know.  But I will say that the drummers on stage with them is a pretty sweet touch.

I think the intro could have been shortened by some of the space crap, but still pretty cool.

This interview with them is pretty interesting, just going through how they work to make their live show a bigger production and more than just knob twisting and button pushing.  Actually makes me want to go see the show - I want to see a big ass drumline pounding on a row of drums!  Here is the top track from their 2017 album, "Line of Sight," which has 114 million streams.

Aw man, poor kid just wants to hang out with Chappie and pour water from a can onto his hands.  Why does the Harvester Terminator have to show up and ruin their good time?  

Finally, let's take a listen to one of the new tracks and see if there is anything new and exciting there.  This is "The Last Goodbye," from The Last Goodbye, with 76 million streams.  (which is interesting in that the other songs on this disc have pretty low streams in comparison).

Maybe a little more upbeat?  I don't know.  You literally could tell me that this song was by Calvin Harris and I'd agree.  Or Avicii, or Zed, or any of the other EDM people who have popped up at ACL in the past decade, I would not be able to argue with you.

You know, these tracks are fine - this music is enjoyable to bump along to.  I think I prefer the more upbeat ones (like "Late Night," with some Cure-esque tones) to the more chill tunes.  They also have Leon Bridges on a tune, which is dope.  I think it is the strings effects that make me think of old Moby tunes - its like the Beach Soundtrack up in here.  I won't keep listening to it once I'm done here, but it is pretty good as far as electronic tunes go.

I sincerely doubt I'll go to this show, just because I'll almost certainly be at the other end of the park to see one of the other headliners, but who knows?

Blond:ish

One Liner: EDM that appears to be much more enjoyable when live than when streamed in the office

Wikipedia Genre: house, techno

Home: Montreal

Poster Position: Level 3 (11) 
Both Weekends.  

Friday.

Thoughts:  This is an odd artist.  The top track claims to be "with Madonna," but as far as I can tell the track just samples/slows down/repurposes some of her vocals?  And ten songs in to listening to this stuff, a relatively faithful reproduction of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" popped up like a jenky Casio keyboard karaoke number had snuck in among the EDM.  "Waves" sounds familiar too, like it is someone else's song that is being covered and reimagined into a beat you'd hear in your local Sephora while being nasally assaulted.

The first "album" listed on Spotify is a single with 10 versions/remixes called Miss You by both Blond:ish and Robson Vidal and featuring Coco Hayek.  The cover art looks like a bad Microsoft paint drawing, and none of the versions have many streams.  Then a bunch of singles until finally an album in 2015 called Welcome to the Present.  Much of it is a very ambient version of EDM, lots of echoey, reverby, soft sounds swirling around for like nineteen hours.  The top song is the last one, "It Starts Now," the only tune that has more than 500k streams, with 4.1 million.

This one packs a little more punch with an actual bassline, but still feels like a lame self-help session that would not be very fun to listen to at the ACL Festival.  After that album, all singles and nothing more!  The top streamer is a 2022 single called "Sete," with an African vibe and 15.8 million streams.

Much more fun than much of this other stuff - I can see that being more fun to jump around to at Zilker Park.  But also, feels entirely generic.  I know I am not the right person to ask for solid opinions on an EDM song, but this feels very thin.  Just a super generic backing beat that takes advantage of a good slice of vocals and some guitar licks.

The Wikipedia is a little confusing, stating both that this band name is a person named Vivie-ann Bakos, and she is from Montreal.  But the rest of the article talks about the band as though it is a duo, both Bakos and someone named Corniere.  Photos just show one person, and other websites just list Bakos as the person.  One bio states this: "BLOND:ISH is a DJ, producer, record label head, environmental activist, Web3 entrepreneur, serial collaborator, energy worker and spiritual seeker (and just about everything in-between)."  Which is, ugggghhhh.  She likes to wear an amazingly tall top bun on her head as well.

I hope all of the EDM heads enjoy every liuttle knob twist that she's going to bring to the stage!  Just out of curiousity, let's see what that looks like.  This show was a month ago in Tulum.

That makes much more since than the singles noted above.  The experience you are aiming for here is just a constant stream of beats to groove to on a beach for two straight hours while apparently high on everything.  Funny the way she'll just chat with some of those guys on stage, like she'll tweak a knob, dance for a sec, and then have a chat.  So weird.  BUT, with that video in mind, I understand the allure much more.

Eloise

One Liner: Jazzy/torchy R&B singer gal with a difficult to google name

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but jazzy R&B

Home: London

Poster Position: Level 3 (15) 
Weekend Two Only.  

Saturday.

Thoughts:  I just finished reviewing Penny & Sparrow, and their top track is "Eloise."  Weird!

I am going to assume this is the lady on Spotify who says he name is Eloise and writes about her feelings.  Because Wikipedia presents me with the following: 

• Eloise of Lord T & Eloise, a crunk rap group from Memphis, Tennessee
• Eloise (album), a 1993 album by Arvingarna
• "Eloise" (Arvingarna song), 1993
• Eloise, an opera by Karl Jenkins
• "Eloise" (Paul Ryan song), 1968, composed by Paul Ryan and sung by his twin brother Barry
• "Eloise", a song by Kay Thompson in 1965

I was sort of hoping this would be half of a crunk rap group from Memphis instead.  Too bad.  or maybe not, I just tried their top track, and it is deeply terrible.  This Eloise is a slender white girl with two EPs and one album, all released since 2019.  It is a sorta light R&B poppy thing, with her voice almost sounding lounge singer-esque.  Like, she stepped on stage at the hotel lobby, had her computer start spitting out a beat, and then sang some jazzy torch songs over the top.

Googling for her is very difficult.  I get stuff like the film soundtracks for the Eloise movies, or that song by Paul Ryan, or "The Eloise Poop Song" which is available on Spotify.  A website called Ones to Watch told me a little about her - London-based, 23 years old, broke in to popular music with Billie Eilish covers on Instagram.

A few tunes from the second EP got big, with three of the four songs firing up over 20 million streams.  The top one is the opener, "You, Dear," with 25.2 millon streams.

Sure, that is nice.  If you are in to that sort of thing, her voice is good, the beat bops along, almost feels like a Winehouse b-side.  Not really my thing, the jazzy R&B deal, but so be it.  The top track from her full album is "Drunk on a Flight," which has sort of the same vibe, just a little more straight R&B.  3.3 million streams.

Again, nice voice, fine little simple beat.  Sounds like she could have made it in the bedroom.  I don't hate it, but definitely not the thing that I would use up my time for at the Festival.  if you like it, then I'm excited for you!

Husbands

One Liner: Laid-back indie rock from a group of great moustaches

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie rock

Home: Oklahoma City

Poster Position: Level 4 (26)
Weekend One Only.  

Saturday.

Thoughts:  Their Spotify bio says they play "landlocked beach pop that sidequests Krautrock, garage rock, and tropicalia."  I have no clue how to parse that sentence into anything resembling understanding.  Is that somehow built for Search Engine Optimization?  Did someone win a bet by using those words in the same sentence?  But I will readily admit that their bio pic features three excellent mustaches, especially the ginger one.

Wikipedia tells me that there is a band called The Husbands, which is an all-female garage punk band from San Francisco.  It is also the title of an American sitcom (that I have never heard of), and a 1970 film directed by John Cassavetes.  But no mention of this band that is from Oklahoma City.  The article I found about them, from, 2020, calls them a duo, but their current photo shows five dudes.  That article also says that the original duo worked on a Godzilla musical while at Oklahoma Christian University and that bonded them.  Also of note, to me at least, they still had day jobs in 2020 as they prepared to release their second album - an attorney and a software engineer.  I wanna be in a band.

Anyway, five albums - 2015's Golden Year, 2018's Karlstad, 2020's After the Gold Rush Party, 2020's Wayne John, and 2022's Full-On Monet.  I only count six songs with more than a million streams, but they have a nice vibe to them.  Top streamer is from the 2020 album, called "Mexico," with 5.3 million.

Nice little pop rock zip.  "so it again? I said without any doubt."  Fun line that rolls off the tongue.  "She's a Betty" is kind of fun, and "Wishbone" has a smooth groove to it.  And then second-most streamed is from the new disc, so let's go there!  "Must be a Cop" has 3.7 million.

Little more spacey than the old sound, but still tasty.  Almost has a Spoon sound at the start of it, and some of the vocals recalls The Shins.  Some of these tunes get a little too light, too "lalalalalalala" over smooth guitars-type thing, but overall, there is a lot to like in this catalog of music.  I'm sure they'll be playing the noon slot on Sunday or something, but this is good.

BigXthaPlug

One Liner: Laconic rapper with some brawny beats

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but rap.

Home: Dallas

Poster Position: Level 3 (19)
Weekend One Only. 

Saturday. 

Thoughts:  Damn.  His first track makes me think this dude should have been on the poster for that Two Step Inn.  This is an actual, for real, bad ass rap track.  Nothing groundbreaking, but a killer beat, a smooth flow, and a brawny badass feel.  I like it!  16.5 million streams.

Got that country-fied banjo start, and then the beat kicks.  Word.  I've never had the lean, but that line in there about adding so much lean to his lemonade that it looks like a Blizzard is freaking money.  That is a track.

After that beat, I obviously knew the guy was from Texas, but his slow flow made me think Houston.  Not so, he's a Dallas guy.  24 years old, and very large.  He apparently was a good football player who thought he'd get somewhere that way, but that future petered out. "He grew to a hulking 6’2” in high school and became a sought-after offensive and defensive lineman. Though recruited by the University of Minnesota, BigX didn’t have the grades to qualify academically. Instead, he enrolled at Minnesota’s Crown College to play for a season while raising his GPA just enough to transfer to the U of M. Homesick and feeling alienated as one of the few Black people on campus, BigX self-medicated with marijuana. The private Christian college, modeling the mercy of their lord and savior, showed him the door as soon as they smelled the smoke."  Haha - that is a good dig.

He moved to Austin, had a kid, and started robbing people at gunpoint to pay for his family.  SPent some time in prison too.  Over the past few years, he has blown up from nobody, now opening shows for guys like Maxo Kream and Key Glock.  He claims that his newfound fame makes him worried, in that back in the day he used to rob folks and he's worried now that his enemies might come back at him.

His earliest single on Spotify is from 2019 - "Came Thru."  It is fine, but not nearly as strong as the later stuff.  Sounds like he has gotten better with beats and learned to slow down and make his own sound.  But 2021's "Big Stepper" brings it up a notch.  That is his first single with millions in streams, although strangely it is not found on his 2022 EP called Big Stepper.  Weird.  But a good track!  First real album was 2023's AMAR, which includes "Texas" and a track from that older EP called "Safehouse."  Second-most streamed at 16.3 million.

That one has Maxo Kream on it, I don't think the studio version does though.  Do you think Maxo was like, "say, man, do we really have to take our shirts off?  Can that just be your thing?"  That track is no where near as instantly solid as "Texas," but it is still good.  "Mr. Trouble" is an older single, from 2021, that is really good too - fantastic beat.

This guy is legit.  I'd check it out.  I hope no one wants to shoot him while he is back in Austin!

Mac Saturn

One Liner: Danceable, soulful rock and roll throwback

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but rock, bluesy rock, sleazy badassery

Home: Detroit

Poster Position: Level 3
Weekend One Only.  

Saturday.

Thoughts:  Pretty good, right off the top.  Reminds me of several things - The Revivalists, Dirty Honey, Daisy Jones & the Six, and even a much less flamboyant version of the Struts.  Bluesy and funky and languid as they slink around the stage.  Also, the algorhytm moved to White Reaper once it was done with all of the Mac Saturn songs, and I didn't notice at first.  So there is another good comp.

The top track by a lot is "Mr. Cadillac."  3 million streams.

Feel that 70's slinky funk in there.  I know it is an intentional look, but jeez those dudes are some scruffy looking goobers.  They have no Wikipedia, but a Detroit-centric Wiki explains them this way: "Mac Saturn is a soul-powered rock and roll band born from a gastric mass in the outer reaches of a forgotten renaissance. They are currently planting the seeds of Rock & Roll in gardens all around the michigan, and working on writing the follow-up to Atomic Medicine."  mmmmkay.

The lead singer/frontman is a dude named Carson Macc, which is really a name.  He was the drummer originally, but it sounds like they've shuffled personnel for a while to get to this lineup.   Macc and guitarist Nick Barone have been playing together since they were teenagers, but they added a handful of other dudes and have been recording some new tunes to push the band out to the world.

They only have six songs, so there is not just a ton to go off of, but I'll readily admit that "Plain Clothes Gentleman" got me bopping along here in my office.  "Diamonds" also has some boogie to it.  Good stuff.  Seems like they would be a fun show of danceable rock and roll jams.

ACL Festival 2023: THE LINEUP!

Man, I know I usually drink the kool-aid and talk up the lineup even when the rest of the world is giving it side-eye, but this lineup is fire.  Even my 15 year old daughter thinks so, as well as my 56 year old friend who texted me this morning.  Usually, I'll get a mixed bag, with some bitter folks complaining about how their style of music isn't represented.  But this year, it feels like everyone is happy.

You want rock?  Foo Fighters, Alanis, Hozier, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Revivalists, Portugal the Man, etc.

You want rap?  Kendrick, Lil Yachty, Labrinth, Lil Simz, Coi Leray (and probably others I don't know yet)

You want country and folk stuff?  Mumford, Lumineers, Shania, Noah Kahan, Tanya Tucker, etc.

Odesza and M83 for EDM-heads.  Pop folks get 1975, Kali Uchis, Maggie Rogers, Tove Lo.  Jimmie Vaugan is on here!  The Breeders!  The Walkmen!  Die Spitz!  All sort of good stuff!

I'm a little bummed that boygenius didn't make it on here, as well as the R.E.M. reunion I am always clamoring for.  But this poster feels really strong.  AND, if you count up the bands on here (131, by my count) I sincerely doubt this is the end of the announcement.  Let's get R.E.M. back together, baby!

Noah Kahan

One Liner: Gentle indie pop-rock with a lovely voice and non-real Irish accent

Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop, folk pop, indie rock, indie folk

Home: New Hampshire

Poster Position: 2
Both Weekends.

Saturday.

Thoughts:  I am writing this post with hope in my heart, about two weeks before I expect the ACL lineup to be released.  This guy is one of the top non-headliner artists on the Lollapalooza lineup, and has the time and space to show up at ACL, so I'm jumping into this as a leap of faith and hoping that he comes through for me.

Dude is from New Hampshire, born in Vermont, and started uploading music to Soundcloud when he was a kid.  He learned guitar at age 12 after having started writing song around 9.  How rad is that?  Shockingly, he's not Irish.  I could have sworn it from the way his voice sounds.  He got noticed and decided to put off an admission to Tulane in order to explore his music options and sign a record deal.  For some reason, Wikipedia says that his major fans are called "busyheads."  Yes, that is the name of his debut album, but still, a weird term to call you biggest fans.

Three albums, 2019's Busyhead, 2021's I Was / I Am, and 2022's Stick Season.  In my opinion, that most recent album is absolutely the best of the three, has a much deeper melodic folkiness that is really appealing.  The earlier stuff is a little more poppy.  From that first album, "Hurt Somebody" is his top overall streamer with 293.4 million streams.

His voice kind of sounds like the guy from Monsters and Men.  For some reason, the album version of that song includes Julia Michaels and has a poppier mix for sure.  I like the original more, although the song has been certified Gold so he did something right!  "False Confidence" was also a big tune off of that album.  The hit off of the second disc was a duet with Joy Oladokun, an ACL alum herself, with 44.5 million streams.  But I'm going to give you the album opener instead, "Part of Me," with 31 million streams.

He's still slinging that guitar, but it has that same pop-forward sound of the first album, with that insistent drum machine putting in work under his picked guitar and soaring vocals.  Again, I prefer the new stuff.  He's toured with a bunch of folks who sound kind of like him - Milky Chance, The Strumbellas, George Ezra, James Bay, and his current tour mate - Dermot Kennedy, who we got at ACL last year.  He also apparently called himself the Jewish Ed Sheeran, which is funny.

He has also been open about struggles with mental health, which seems like a very 26-year-old thing to do these days.  He struggled with it much more before he started releasing music, and people's reactions helped him understand a better connection with other folks.

The new album is his first one to chart, reaching #14 on US charts and 29 in Canada.  The top song has reached #2 on the "Bubbling Under" chart from Billboard on #12 on the Rock Charts.  It is a great song - "Stick Season," with 128 million streams.

Again, hard to believe he is not an Irish dude from that accent.  Am I insane?  But, this one starts out as an excellent little folky tune that then erupts into a joyous anthem.  The album definitely has some poppy times, but I think it is aimed more at indie rock fans than those who dig drum machines.  I've enjoyed it for sure.

As a random aside, "stick season" is a thing in Vermont (and I suppose the northeast generally, but the article I just read is talking about Vermont) when the leaves have fallen off of the trees but the snow has not yet come to cover up the landscape.  it is a time of transition, when the days are shorter, the nights are colder, and people start to nest indoors.  I like that visual.  Here is a quote from Kahan: “The beauty of autumn foliage in Vermont transforms into a brown and gray wasteland as we wait for the first snow. It is an unfortunate but necessary transition, similar in so many ways to the transition from familiar lovers into heartbroken strangers. I like to look at the song as hopeful; winter will come, the snow will fall, melt, and eventually summer will be back in all its beauty. You will suffer, move on, and survive again.”

I'd go see this!

Quick Hits, Vol. 325 (Ab-Soul, Paramore, Daisy Jones and the Six, The Stacks)

Ab-Soul - HERBERT.  Ab-Soul is one of those dudes who has popped up on other people's records for years - Kendrick lamar, Schoolboy Q, as examples - but I think this is the first time I've tried out his solo music.  He's good.  Has a nice style that flows really smoothly over these beats.  Beats are good too - they have that more classic feel than some of the other digital beat guys, and some of the tracks do fire up cool soul samples that I like - like half-way through "Hollandaise."  Or the sample in "Goodman," which was also used by Ghostface Killah a while back.  The top streamer is one with Zacari, "DO BETTER," with 6.4 million streams.

Really nice combo of sample with vocals, like a warm embrace from someone trying to encourage me to do better.  "there's nothing I can do that I can't do better" is a great line.  He really coasts on that beat.  So nice to hear someone rap with skill again.

Paramore - This is Why.  The title song has been a little oversaturated recently on the radio, which makes it a little tiresome, but I really like the way it sneaks in.  Sounds like some light-footed lounge singer song at first, and then erupts into a danceable rock boogie.  And that is when this album is its best to me - when they get danceable.  There is a lot of morose stuff on here that is less interesting to me, it kind of disappears from my ear holes as the songs blandly shuffle along.  But when "Running Out of Time" does its chorus, the song is fun for just a little chunk.  "C'est Comme Ca" is fun just because I took French in junior high and high school and so I remember the proper pronunciation of "comme ci, comme ca," or "so-so."  I loved that phrase.  This one means "it is what it is."  And this song is a fun groove as well, even though it sounds like she is saying "safe and saw, nanananananananana!"  The title track is the top one, by more than double, with 53.4 million streams.

Definitely the best song on the album, the one that sounds most like their old, lively stuff that made their ACL set so fun.  I really wanted to love the album, as listening to them for ACL and then since has been more enjoyable than I expected.  But I just don't love it.  Okay album, but not something that I could see joining the lifetime rotation.

Daisy Jones and the Six - AURORA.  I really enjoyed this book, the wife and I listened to it on a road trip one time and it made the miles roll by.  Cool story of a Fleetwood Mac-ish rock and roll band becoming the biggest band in the world and then imploding.  We tried the first episode of the show - its on Prime - and I don't plan on watching the rest.  Kind of an annoying style of telling the story with both interviews detailing the events and then actually seeing the events.  This album is pretty light of power too, again, what I keep thinking of is that this is a weak facsimile of an old Fleetwood album.  The top track is "Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)" with 19 million streams.  I'm actually surprised by that number!

I think it is the tune itself that gets me.  The lyrics are fine, but that "rockin" solo in there just literally sounds like a kid who learned one little riff/lick on his guitar by listening to Freebird and tried to turn it into a song.  This is probably better than should be expected for a made-for-TV album, but I don't need it.

The Stacks - Lay Me Down to Rest.  Local Austin band, who rose up from the very excellent Good Looks band who was named ot the ACL poster last year.  According to a KUTX article, Good Looks is “Tyler’s” band (the lead singer Tyler Jordan) and Stacks is “Jake’s” band (Jake Ames, the guitarist).  Jake was the guy who got hit by a car right after their record release concert, which put a pause on both of these projects for a while.

I loved the Good Looks sound, and this album is not too far off from that vibe, just a little more reverb-y and psych-y, but otherwise a lot of good, straight-forward rock action.  I really dig the sound, good harmonies that weave in and out during both the upbeat jams and the quiet ballads.  They've got a flute on here at one point!  Not many streams, this band hasn't quite broken into the National consciousness yet, but they should!  Top song is the mysteriously named "Chicon," which I've heard on the radio a few times.  13k streams.

FUCKIN' DART BOWL!!!  Ahhhhhhh.  That makes me so nostalgic and sad.  Stupid progress, tearing down the monuments to my childhood!  He’s got the look of a dude who brews beer for a living.  Lamme’s!  Planet K!  Cisco’s!  He’s out there boogie-ing all over town, while the band picks along a nice little batch of riffage.  A touch of rockabilly/surf action in it, a good nugget of clapalong pleasure.  “This City might be fucked, but who am I to cry!”  Apparently that was filmed in 2020 when the world was shut down!  The start of “Dope Demise” is cool too, throwback to something I can’t put my finger on.  Album closer "The Garden" is great.  Yeah, I’m in on this one.  I’d like to find them out and about and see a live show!

Quick Hits, Vol. 322 (Skullcrusher, Mac DeMarco, White Reaper, The Arcs)

Skullcrusher - Quiet the Room.  Little misnomer action here.  You would think that this band name is right up my alley with some Queens of the Stone Age style heavy rock smashings.  Instead, its like one of the First Aid Kit sisters tried out a shoegaze album while high.  Quite beautiful, but the name of the band doesn't match the quiet loveliness here at all.  No clue where I found this, but not a ton of streams for it, so maybe no one else has found it either.  One is edging its way closer to a million, with "Whatever Fits Together" at 928k right now.

See?  Really pretty, ethereal stuff, and yet called Skullcrusher.  I looked it up, and this is the backstory: "Specifically the name comes from one of my best friends who got me into a lot of techno music. We used to go to some techno shows together and we had these pairs of shoes that we would wear that were very intense looking and we would call them our “skull crusher” shoes. And kind of laugh about that."  Not sure how they both wore that pair of shoes.  Is this a Tyler Durden thing?  I like the banjo added in to that track, adds a grounding component to the floatiness of the rest of the instrumentation.  Pretty album.  Not my normal thing, but a nice background album.

Mac DeMarco - Five Easy Hot Dogs.  Dunno what the deal is with this album, but it's all instrumentals.  And really, just multiple versions of five instrumental songs that all hew to the normal DeMarco skuzzy, off-key funk walk smears.  Fine, I guess, but you probably don't need to hear them.

White Reaper - Asking for a Ride.  I've gotten to really like their old stuff, and I've seen them rip it up on stage twice.  But this album leaves me wanting.  Leaves behind some of the tuneful, playful rock and amps it up to more of a sneering punk-laced thing.  The first song makes me think of when Sum 41 would blast out a silly freakout as a joke.  But these guys seem to be serious.  That being said, the tight ass, bashing groove of "Funny Farm" freaking rules.  I want to mash my face into a crowd of Doc Martens while that song is blasting.  "Crawlspace" and "Thorn" also go back to the more melodic side of their catalog.  In fact, now that I think about it, I think this album mellows out as it goes along.  Which makes it no surprise that the last song on the disc is the most popular one.  "Pages" has 3.6 million streams.

Just like their other best songs from the past albums, this one combines some hard edges with a melodic and harmonic style.  Nothing ground-breaking - those drums sound like some 60's rock and roll stuff from That Thing You Do - but it is imminently catchy and makes me want to nod my head along.  Overall, the album isn't great, but the last few songs are worth your time.

The Arcs - Electrophonic Chronic.  This is that side band for Dan Aeurbach of the Black Keys, which apparently came out of an attempt at making a solo album that ended up feeling good enough to make a whole new band.  Their first disc was pretty solid - although I'd mentioned before that any side band that has the same lead singer as the original band pretty much just sounds like the original band.  There are probably some exceptions, but for the most part if Eddie Vedder is singing, then it sounds like Pearl Jam.  "Heaven in a Place" sounds like one of those recent Gary Clark Jr. songs where he fires some slick guitar over a dreamy blues rock track.  It is pretty good, although its also pretty soft.  I would have liked a little more fire.  "Eyez" is the second-most streamed tune on the disc, also the second song on the disc, but the currently most popular track for the band.  1.8 million streams.

Pretty solid.  The whole album is a little shaggy, a little loose, a little too reverb-y to sound like it belongs in today.  Pretty solid, although it's not lighting me up in any appreciable way.

Quick Hits, Vol. 324 (Margo Price, Hello Mary, Ice Spice, Martha)

Margo Price - Strays.  I keep coming back to the fact that this album makes me think of Sheryl Crow.  Classic Sheryl Crow.  And to me, that is a great thing - this is not shade at all.  But it has that easy listening rock style that Crow slayed back in the day.  Those first few Crow albums were perfection to me.  "Light Me Up," with Tom Petty's guitarist Mike Campbell, sounds a little like a nursery rhyme until the drums kick in.  "Change of Heart" is the most purely Crow tune on here.  I really hear her in there.  And it is both the background instrumentation - old-school organ, gentle guitar/bass/drum meanderings, good harmony vocals - and the way that Price herself sounds as she phrases the vocals.  "Lydia" makes me think of "Don't Give Up," although I was hoping it would be a Slaid Cleaves cover, because that song rules.  The top track is with Sharon Van Etten, which is all about getting NAKED while listening to tunes.  Or at least I think that is right.  "Radio" has 1.8 million streams.

The start of that track is super jenky, with those drum machine beats and synth chords.  But then it kicks in and sounds a little more rad.  Meh.  Not my favorite track on the album, it feels like the chorus was the focus and the verses just got tossed in there.  But I do like her giving the impressed pizza delivery gal her joint!  Also random aside, I really like the look of this album cover.  Like she's at a prom at Enchanted Rock!  Pretty solid disc.

Hello Mary - Ginger.  One of those bands that Rolling Stone said was on the come-up or something.  I like it, skuzzy, fuzzy, raw rock and roll blast.  The title track starts off the album with that sort of sound, and it rules.  Just sounds like a room of people blasting their instruments to 11 and having a good time.  Lo-fi, garage rock sort of sound from these three ladies bashing their way around, and then a few slinky, shoegazey sort of tunes tossed in to keep you honest.  But the guitar blast of Apple sounds kind of like early Nirvana.  Super low stream count, so I guess most people aren't digging the action.  That album opener is the top streamer for sure, and the only one above a million listens.  So, we'll just stick with that one.  "Ginger."

I wanna go mosh with seven other awkward people in a parking lot!  Oh wow, they look like children!  Just read up on them and the members were 16 and 19 when this album came out (in 2020!).  Got a definite throwback grunge sound on some of these tunes.  I like it!

Ice Spice - Like..?  I've been seeing things about Ice repeatedly recently, so I figured I needed to check it out.  Meh?  Has the beats like the British rappers doing ???, or maybe like drill?  I just don't know much about rap subgenres, but I know that the beats end up bleeding together and then the album just seems like nothing is different from the last track.  But honestly, her flow is pretty okay, she spits with speed and some clever rhymes here and there.  Lots of nasty lyrics.  Has a shitton of streams - like smokes everyone else I've listened to recently.  Five songs on here are in the eight figure range!  Top one is "In Ha Mood," with 84.9 million streams.

She says the same thing way too many times.  This feels like something that was hot through TikTok.  It is much better than a lot of the current dudes making lame mumble raps, but I don't find it all that interesting in the end.

Martha - Please Don't Take Me Back.  Yummy stuff!  Do you ever hate how some distasteful person can make a word seem bad in your mind?  I wanted to use the word "yummy" just then, but then it brought back the thing I read that Tucker Carlson had called a woman "yummy," while on a hot mic, and now I never want to use that word again.  It's like Ted Cruz saying that Princess Bride was a favorite, which makes me so sad because that movie rules.  Gross political people should all just shut up and live on CSPAN.  Anyway, this album has nothing to do with any of all of that, it is just a fantastic little nugget of straight-forward rock and roll pleasures.  I really like it.  English band, and I have no clue how they came into my queue.  No real lead singer either, which is an interesting wrinkle.  The title track is the top streamer, even though I think I like the first two tracks on the disc more.  144k streams.

Jangly sing-along tune that is good fun.  I also am always a fan of his accent in the chorus.  Like many rock and roll records these days, nothing on here is ground-breaking or new, but it has a poppy buoyancy under the riffage that works super well.  I'm on board!

ACL 2023: Final Prediction Thoughts

Howdy friends!  It is just about that time, as the usual announcement day for ACL Fest is May 4th or 5th.  So we are just about to see the poster and revel in all of the awesomeness that will be the lineup.  I meant to get some other posts up making guesses about who could be here, but ce la vie.  From the posts I have made so far, here are the final prognostications that I believe could come true.  I feel more solid about the guesses at the top, and then less certain as the list goes on.

1. The Revivalists (I cheated on this one, I know they'll be here!)
2. Foo Fighters.
3. Kendrick Lamar.
4. Odesza.
5. Green Day.
6. Shania Twain.
7. Noah Kahan
8. Maggie Rogers
9. Alanis Morisette
10. The 1975
11. The Breeders

I had a soft prediction of LCD Soundsystem, but just realized the other day that the song I keep hearing on the radio right now is actually some other crappy band who is just copying LCD Soundsystem.  So, I'm not going to guess them after all.

Fingers crossed!  That would be a sick lineup!